The Shaw Brothers: Basher Box

At the dawn of the 1970s, a new kind of hard-hitting action film swept the Asian film industry: the kung fu movie, often known to Western audiences as 'bashers' for their emphasis on hand-to-hand combat. Shaw Brothers was one of the greatest producers of these eye-popping action spectaculars, revolutionizing the genre through the back-breaking work of top-shelf talent on both sides of the camera as well as unbeatable widescreen production value, much of it shot at 'Movietown', their huge studio on the outskirts of Hong Kong. This triple bill of redemption and revenge kicks off in 1972 with Korean director Chung Chang-wha's King Boxer, the film that established kung fu cinema as an international box office powerhouse. From there we see Chang Cheh, arguably Shaw's most prolific director, helm the blood-soaked brutality of The Boxer from Shantung and Chinatown Kid, the latter set on the streets of San Francisco.